1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to information technology (IT), and more particularly, to a computer program runtime bottleneck diagnostic method and system which is designed for use in conjunction with a computer platform that runs a computer program, such as a BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) POST (Power On Self Test) routine, for providing the BIOS POST routine with a runtime bottleneck diagnostic function that allows the user to find the runtime bottleneck of the BIOS POST routine, i.e., the most time-consuming code module in the BIOS POST routine, so that the BIOS POST program developers can modify the bottleneck-causing code module to make the BIOS POST routine more efficient to run.
2. Description of Related Art
POST (Power On Self Test) is a series of built-in diagnostic routines performed by the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) in a computer platform at startup after powered on. The purpose of POST is to test the hardware components of the computer platform to check whether they can function normally after the operating system is loaded.
Since the BIOS POST routine is executed at the startup of the computer platform right after power-on, its efficiency is an important factor in the performance evaluation of the computer platform. In other words, if a POST's overall runtime length is long, then it will let the user wait for a very long while until the computer platform can be operated. On the other hand, if the POST runs fast, the computer platform will be operable soon after the user turns it on. For this sake, in the BIOS POST program development, it is required that the overall runtime length of a BIOS POST routine be optimized to the minimum. In view of this requirement, there exists a need in the computer industry for a BIOS POST runtime bottleneck diagnostic tool that can help BIOS POST program developers to find the runtime bottleneck of a BIOS POST routine.